Community raises money for girl missing prosthetic eye

Girl, 10, says she doesn’t want to feel different

A community is coming together over the weekend to help a 10-year-old girl in Laconia who needs a new glass prosthetic eye.

Family members said Jennifer Miller was swimming two weeks ago when she lost her prosthetic eye and her feeling of normalcy.

"I started swimming out, like, diagonally, and it just fell out because of all the water getting behind it," Miller said.

Miller, who was just 3 when she lost her eye to a tumor, said she started screaming that day, sending everyone from the fire department and scuba divers to search for the prosthetic.

Miller said she doesn’t want to feel different.

"No, but this is how I was made," Miller said.

Relatives said Miller's father, an Army veteran, is disabled from a stroke, and the entire family, including his five children, get by on his military pension and Social Security.

"With no insurance, they don’t have enough funds to pay for the new eye, plus live," said family member Christine Jenot.

To help the girl, the community is pitching in for a benefit spaghetti dinner at the Elks in Gilford from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Residents said they hope to raise some of the $3,500 needed to replace Miller's prosthetic eye.

"She's absolutely beautiful, and she has to have her eye," Jenot said.

Family members said Miller hopes to be fitted for her new eye and special goggles for swimming and playing sports in a few weeks.

Donations can be made to the Jennifer Miller Fund at the Meredith Village Savings Bank, 393 South Main St. in Laconia or online at gofundme.com.

Thanks to the generosity of some viewers, donations are up to $4,400 with another fundraiser set for Saturday night.

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